Looking Forward

Here we are. Down to the last few hours of 2013. We rarely stay up until Midnight any more so I'm pretty much done with 2013 and ready for 2014. So without further ado, here's a look at what I'm anticipating this new year:

Faith: I got a new Bible for Christmas! For the past few years I've wanted the NET Bible, but it is very hard to find. I did finally track it down on a website, but in the meantime I heard about the Our Daily Bread Devotional Bible on Bible Gateway. I told my mom about it and she gave it to me for Christmas. I am so thrilled to have it and plan to use it for my daily quiet time this year. I normally use a chronological Bible, but every three or four years I like to switch to something new for a year. Also, you'll notice, this Bible is purple, which is my favorite color! I can't wait to start reading it tomorrow.

Stitching: I have 14 projects kitted up for 2014. I also have six WIPs that I'd like to work on. I also have a list of about 10 other projects that I need to make. Too ambitious, you think?! Me too. I won't get them all done, but I'm hoping to accomplish more than I did in 2013.

Family: My little family of 13 is growing to 14 in 2014 and my entire family of 18 is growing to 20! Jessica and Adam are expecting a baby in June 2014. Dan and I are beyond thrilled to be welcoming another grandchild. My nephew Matt and his fiance, Shelby are planning a wedding this year, which will up our total to 20. As a child, I always dreamed up being a part of a large family and my dream has definitely come true!

One Word: I've been thinking about and praying about my One Word for 2014. And no matter what words Iconsider, it all comes back to one - Home. So my One Word for 2014 is Home and I hope that I will spend this year making our home a place that is welcoming, warm, cozy, friendly, and filled with love.

I have many dreams, wishes, and goals for 2014. Some of them will come to pass and some won't. But no matter what comes, I know that God has a plan for my life and my heart's desire is to follow His plan. I pray that you will have a safe, happy New Year's celebration and a blessed 2014.

A Look Back

The last day of 2013 is tomorrow. How can that be? The year flew by, but I'm ready to say good-bye to it. This has been an unusual year for me. We spent the entire first part of it anticipating that we would be buying a house in the Fall. We plotted and planned for the perfect move. Yeah. You can guess how that turned out.

We did buy a house and we moved in on October 25th. The move did not go at all as planned. Oh well. This house is a huge blessing to us. We love in and feel so comfortable in it. On Thanksgiving Day my SIL commented that it felt as if we'd lived here for years. In December one of my friends came over and said the exact same thing - word for word! To me that's the ultimate compliment and when I'm feeling overwhelmed with the projects that are yet to be tackled, I remember those words and relax!

Here's a look back at 2013 by category:

Stitching- I did not stitch as much as I wanted to this past year. I completed 18 projects this year. The thing that disappointed me most was that I was frantically stitching on Christmas stockings AGAIN this year. I have been in this predicament several times and I have vowed 2014 will be different. I asked my daughter and DIL to be my accountability partners in my determination that whatever Christmas Stitching is not done by November 1st will just have to wait until the next year!

Faith- This year I read The Chronological Bible again for my daily quiet time. If you have never read a chronological Bible I highly recommend it. It arranges the books/verses in chronological order as they occurred. It provides a new perspective, especially in the Old Testament books. I also took part in Beth Moore's SSMT scripture memory project. This was my second time to participate. I wish I could tell you that I can recite all 24 verses I chose without a single hesitation or mistake. But I can't. The plus side is that I do have more verses memorized than I did at the start of 2013! I also participated in two Bible Studies with my friend, Becky. I really enjoyed the time spent studying independently and then coming together each week to share what we'd accomplished.

Family- We had so many fun family times in 2013. The trip to San Diego, the trip to Kansas, celebrating holidays, having fun at Grammy Daycare... to many to detail in a list. And our family is growing! Our nephew Matt became engaged to Shelby over Christmas and they plan to be married next summer. We all love Shelby and she is a terrific addition to our family!

Reading- I participated in a survey the other day by one of my favorite authors. One of the questions was "how many books did you read this year?". I keep a list of every book I read so I counted them up. I was shocked! I only read 50 books this year. I usually read between 85-100 books a year. My first thought was "did I forget to write some of them down?". No. I was just busy with other things. Plus I read several very long books this year. I love to read and I actually felt a little sadness at the realization that I didn't spend as much time reading as I would have liked.

Friends- Do we ever get to see our friends as much as we'd like to? I don't think so. I am so grateful for each of my friends. The time we do spend together is precious to me.

All in all, 2013 was a fantastic year. Dan had more appraisal work than he's had since 2005. What a blessing! The ability to buy our home has been an answer to prayer. We didn't realize how much stress we were still carrying from the events of 2008-2009 until we bought this house. We are so thankful for it.

So, there's 2013 in a nutshell. Looking forward to 2014 tomorrow...

What's New? Thermostats

When we moved into our new home, it had several original fixtures. The lighting is all completely outdated. The cool deck and pool surface are cracked and eroded. The thermostats were the original mercury ones. After having programmable thermostats for many many years, we knew we had to replace those right away. No matter what we placed the temperature level at, one of them always read 70 degrees and the other one always read 66 degrees.

Fortunately, our new neighbor, Brian, is an HVAC guy. And he gives neighbor discounts. We had his company come out to check out the system, and then we arranged for new thermostats. Ahhh, who would ever think that thermostat could be such a glorious purchase? Now our home climate is programmed. And we know exactly what the temperature is at all times. We have dual units, and they both read 71 degrees simultaneously.

It's a good thing we got on this right away. Brian said the old ones had no mercury left in them at all. So, they weren't working well or accurately. The best part? We got to cross "replace thermostats" off our to-do list!

Out with the old...

In with the new

Family Christmas

In the midst of the chaos of our move, needing to paint every square inch of wall in our new home, no baseboards, showers that don't work properly, and an overgrown backyard, we had family Christmas.

For the first time since 2009, all of my kids were here. It was wonderful. Nothing could have taken away from the joy of being all together. Of course, when I look at the photos, I can see the work that needs to be done glaring at me, but it recedes as I see my family gathered together.

Here's a snapshot of our Family Christmas 2013:

Zach, Jessica, Adam

Gabe, Katie, JoAnne (Gigi), Janel

Thunder, Sunny

Ashley, Skye

Janel, JD

Dan 

Me, Thunder

The cousins

Skye, Ashley, Zach

Carl (Papa)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

SSMT #24

Here we are; the last verse of 2013. My determination is to continue to memorize verses of God's Word so that when I'm disappointed, afraid, worried, elated, stuck, sad, joyful, whatever my circumstance, I will have His Word to support and encourage me.

When I said, "My foot is slipping",
   your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.
When anxiety was great within me,
   your consolation brought me joy.
Psalm 94:18-19

Family Christmas Party

On Sunday, we got together with most of the family for a little Christmas party. Everyone brought their favorite appetizer or dessert. We played games, handed out prizes, sang Christmas songs, and participated in a White Elephant Gift Exchange. It was fun!

Why can't they all smile at once?

Yeah... NOW she's smiling!

Sunny, Katie, Thunder, Gabe

Zach and Gabe playing a game

Jessica playing a game

Kelly playing a game

Hmmm... maybe the games I chose were a little too intense!

Skye and Thunder were fascinated by the train

I got the coolest White Elephant Gift!

A sock monkey that you can launch &

while he's flying through the air he screams like Tarzan

Gabe's gift was a yard of butter cookies - his faves!

Zach got a lottery ticket - no he didn't win anything

Kelly received Starbucks goodies

Thankful...

Even though our home is in a state of chaos, I hosted Thanksgiving this year. I hung a sign on the front door warning every one that they were "entering a construction zone - hard hats NOT required"! It was a beautiful day and we were able to eat out on the patio, which is a tradition at my Thanksgiving dinners. Everyone contributed and we had a great time!

Outside dining

Sweet Skye

Gigi & Skye getting in some play time 

The food line

Mark, Zach, Dan

Ashley, Kelly, Jessica

Papa

Tia Jessica with Skye and Sunny

Thunder

Jessica w/Thunder, Matt w/Sunny, Zach w/Skye

After party cuddling

Sunny is four going on sixteen!

Is this a photo bomb?!

Sunny, Katie, Thunder

Beautiful Mother/Daughter

Gramps and Grammy join in on the fun!